40,000 Membership Rewards points – worth 40,000 Avios – with Amex Platinum Business

I don’t write much about small business credit cards on Head for Points, because they tend to offer poor value. There are, for example, two British Airways American Express Corporate Cards, which I discuss in this post on the On Business loyalty scheme. They are not desperately exciting, though, and usually have no sign-up bonus.

American Express, however, has just launched a new deal on its small business cards.

Amex is now offering 40,000 Membership Rewards points when you apply for the American Express Platinum Business card.  There has been no bonus on this card at all for the last few months.

You also receive 20,000 Membership Rewards points when you apply for the American Express Gold Business card.  More interestingly, the American Express Gold Business card is free for the first year.

See here for full details on the Platinum and Gold cards.

Bonus eligibility

This is where is gets complicated.

According to the rules, you CANNOT get these bonuses “if you currently hold or have held any Membership Rewards enrolled American Express Card in the past six months”.  In plain English, that means a Gold, Platinum, Green or Centurion personal Amex card.  This is because, whilst these are called ‘business’ cards, they are mainly aimed at sole traders and the points go into a personal Membership Rewards account.

And yet … last time I wrote about this, two readers with existing Amex MR cards said that they had applied for the card AND successfully received the bonus.  It may be that Amex really means that the bonus doesn’t apply if you have already had a ‘business’ Amex card in the last six months.  Or perhaps Amex just has rubbish IT ….

The other issue is the £6,000 qualifying spend.  Unless you have a business that puts a lot of spend through credit cards, this is a lot of spend to divert to the card if the bonus does not post.  You may consider it worth the gamble though.

Getting the card

Here are the basics:

• The Platinum card carries an annual fee of £450, the Gold card costs £125 but is free for the first year
• Clause 18.2 of the Terms & Conditions confirms that you will get a pro-rata fee refund on the Platinum card fee if you cancel
• See this post for what you can do with Membership Rewards points in other loyalty schemes
• You need to spend £6,000 in three months to get the 40,000 points on the Platinum Business card
• You need to spend £3,000 in three months to get the 20,000 points on the Gold Business card
• You earn 1 point per £1 when you spend on the card

What does Amex count as a small business?

Here are the rules from the Amex website for Platinum:

To apply for the Platinum Business Card, you should be able to say yes to the following:

• I am aged 18 or over
• The company has been trading for more than one year and has a current UK Bank or Building Society account
• My personal income is over £20,000
• I/The Business have/has no County Court Judgements for non-payment of debt

• Pay annual fee of £450 (Tax deductable) [the site actually says £125 but this is a typo!]

There is one other important point to note. The Platinum Business card still comes with full travel insurance, with no small print. It is the policy that the Platinum personal card used to have before it was downgraded, with no requirement to use the card to pay for anything before you qualify. You can also cover 5 other family groups, apart from your own, by handing out supplementary cards on your account.

You receive Starwood Gold and Club Carlson Gold, as you would with a personal Platinum Amex.  There is no mention of Accor Platinum, however.  You will also receive a Priority Pass for airport lounge access.

If you run a larger business, you may want to consider giving you and/or your staff the American Express Green Corporate Card, Gold Corporate Card, Platinum Corporate Card or British Airways American Express Corporate Card.  You can request more details on the corporate card range here.

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus. 

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review